Railroad crossing



A. F. EMMONS RAILROAD CROSSING" Get. 15, 1929,

Filed Sept. 50. 1927 INVENTOR Patented Oct. 15, 1929 UNHTED STATES PATENT OFFICE ALBERT F. EMMON S, OF HARMONY, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO AMERICAN PRESSED STEEL COMPANY, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, -A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD CROSSING Application filerl september 30, 1927. Serial No. 223,035.

- 1 usage, especially in view of the peculiar conditions existing at such a crossing, has long been known. It is necessary that the traffic roadway be built adjacent the rails so that the surface of the roadway and the upper surfaces of the rails lie substantially in the same plane. To this end it is customary to build up the traflic roadway by the use of heavy timbers or fillers laid along the track upon the cross ties.

It is, of course, necessary to provide adjacent the inner edge of each rail of a track a wheel flange space. This necessitates a break in the traffic roadway ofv some two or three inches at each rail. On account of such break in the roadway, the portion thereof next the wheel flange space opposite the rail is subject to extremely hard wear. Wheels of vehicles moving over the crossing are brought suddenly into forcible contact with such portion of the roadway while bridging the gap between it and the rail. This results in the wearing down of the upper edge of the roadway at the wheel flange space and the consequent deterioration of the entire roadway at the crossing.

Various means for protecting the roadway have been devised. Such means usually comprise a metal strip or bar extending along the edge of the roadway and braced in some manner against the rail. Such a strip may be somewhat effective in guarding the edge of the roadway against injury but it has no appreciable effect in protecting the other parts of the roadway between the rails. All parts of'the traflic roadway lying between and immediately adjacent the rails are also subject to heavy wear due in great part to the striking thereagainst of-vehic-le wheels on the rebound after having bounced over the wheel flange space. The force imparted to a vehicle by reason of this bounce is absorbed by portions of the roadway adjacent the rails. Not only the first rebound, but also the sec- 0nd and third, and so on, until the vehicle attains vertical equilibrium, causes a shock to the roadway resulting in its rapid deterioration.

In crossings as heretofore known, no provision has been made to prevent the individual timbers or fillers disposed between the rails from working loose. Such fillers, after having been in place for a considerable time, are found to cant and their faces become worn and rounded so that the roadway consists of relatively loose timbers.

I provide a wear plate for the traffic roadway at railroad crossings which not only protects the edge of the roadway at the wheel I flange space, but also protects the entire extent of the roadway adjacent the rails and minimizes or entirely prevents the deterioration of the roadway at the crossing through shocks imparted thereto by vehicular traffic.

I further provide means for spacing the wear plate from the rails to accommodate the wheel flanges. In wear plates as heretofore constructedit has been customary to provide spacing means engaging the rail continuously throughout substantially its entire length, thus preventing the draining off of water through the space. It is important that the water should be drained off as otherwise it will seep through and accumulate at the crossing, greatly aiding in the rapid deterioration thereof. The spacing means as provided by this invention'comprises a number of spacing members disposed at intervals longitudinally of the track so as to permit drainage through the wheel flange space and between the spacing members.

In the accompanying drawings I have shown a present preferred embodiment of the invention, wherein Fig. 1 is a perspective view, partly in vertical cross section, of a railroad grade crossing with my invention applied thereof; and

Fig. 2 is a vertical'cross sectional view to enlarged scale showing one means by which the wear plate may be spaced from a rail.

Referring more particularly to the draw ings, there is shown one of the railroad cross the rail adjacent it in the manner above described, such we'ar plates exactly meet 1nties 2 upon which are laid rails 3 forming a track. Supported upon the cross ties and lying generally parallel to the rails are tim bers or fillers 4. These fillers are of such height that their upper surfaces lie slightly below the upper surfaces of the rails. Overlying the fillers and having portions extending around the edges of the fillers at the wheel flange spaces adjacent the rails are a pair of wear plates 5. Each of the wear plates 5 is made up ofa flat or plane portion 6, which is provided with ribs or slightly raised projections to. form an anti-slip surface, and a second substantially plane portion 7 joining the portion 6 at approximately a right angle. As shown in the drawings, the portion 6 of the wear plate'overlies the fillers so that its upper surface is at substantially the same height as the upper surface of the rails, and the portion 7 extends vertically along the edge of the filler nearest a rail so that the upper edge or eornerof such filler is protected from the shock imparted thereto by vehicle wheels bouncing over the wheel flange space.

The portions 6 of the wear plates are made of such a size that twoof such plates when placed between the rails of a standard gauge track meet each other intermediate the rails. This provides a protective covering for the entire extent of the roadway between the rails of a track and thus is effective for absorbing the shocks imparted thereto by vehicle wheels rebounding after crossing the wheel flange space.

In order to space the respective wear plates from the rails to provide the Wheel flange spaces, I have shown in Fig. 1 a plurality of tongues 8 struck up from the portion 6 of the wear plate so as to extend in a direction substantially perpendicular to the plane of such aortion 6. These tongues 8 are spaced along the wear plate in a direction generally longitudinal of the track and bear against the web of the rail so as to firmly secure the plate in place. 13y reason of the tongues 8 being spaced along the wear plate, provision is made for the drainage of the roadway at the crossing by means of the wheel flange space.

A modified form of spacing means is illus trated in Fig. 2. This means comprises a threaded bolt 9 extending through a suitable opening 10 in the portion 7 of the wear plate and prevented from passing outwardly through such opening by means of a tapered head 11. The outer end of the bolt carries a head 12 adapted to bear against the rail web. A nut 13 is provided on the bolt, which nut is adapted to be tightened against the outer surface of the vertical portion 7 of the wear plate to firmly hold the bolt in engagement with the rail.

W hen each of the two wear plates disposed between the rails of a track is braced against termediate the rails so that no portion of the traflic roadway is left unprotected. Each wear plate is conveniently formed with the portion 6 thereof of suflicient width to extend to the center line of the track. Two identical wear plates will then serve to protect the roadway between the two rails.

The wear plate as above described is also adapted for use at the outside of a rail of a track. When used outside a rail the end of the portion 6 opposite the portion 7 is brought to bear directly against the rail head so that its upper surface is substantially at the same level as the upper surface of the rail.

A filler may be provided next the rail on the outside, or road material may be used, as desired. The vertically extending portion 7 of the wear plate is firmly embedded in the The wear plates may be secured to the fillers by suitable means such as spikes or nails driven through the portions 6 of the plates vertically into the several fillers. This not only has the eifect of more securely maintaining the wear plate in place, but also serves to bind together the individual fillers so that they act more in the nature of asingle unit, thereby preventingcanting or working loose of the individual fillers and the conse v quent loosening or breaking up of the roadway. The wear plate is easily applied and may be used either with new fillers or with old timber which has been subjected to considerable wear. When used with old fillers the provision of nails or spikes as above mentioned for securing the plate to the fillers and for binding the fillers together prevents to a considerable extent further deterioration of the roadway.

In the form of wear plateshown in Fig. 1, the vertical side portions 7 do not extend down completely to the cross ties 2, but only a sufficient distance below the upper corner of the outside filler so that such corner is protected from wear. The vertical extent of such portion 7 is substantially equal to the length of each of the tongues 8 so that the wear plate may be easily removed simply by lifting up on the edge of the top portion 6 0p posite the vertical portion 7 and turning the plate to a vertical position. This is possible because the height of the portion 7 is not substantially greater than the length of the tongues 8 and consequently the plate will turn without binding between the outer filler and the rail. This is of considerable importance in that the plates may be removed by unskilled labor without either loosening the rail from the ties or moving the outer filler. The wear plate may be put in place in a manner the reverse of that just described for its removal.

The wear plate shown in Fig. 2 extends down to the bottom of the filler. This is possible when a spacing means such as shown in that figure is made use of as in putting the rality of spacing members struck up therefrom at intervals, the spacing members bearing against the web of the rail.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

ALBERT F. EMMONS.

plates in place and in removing them it is not necessary that they be turned upwardly. The nut 13 is merely turned toward the left on the bolt 9, permitting the wear plate to slide to the left, whereupon it is easily removed by lifting it Vertically upward.

I thus provide a wear means for use at a railroad crossing and adapted to overlie the roadway and to extend substantially from rail to rail. I also provide for the bracing of the wear means against the rails and for drainage of the roadway at the crossing by the use of spacing means disposed at intervals longitudinally with relation to the track. I further provide a wear plate adapted to lie along a traffic road surface at a railroad crossing composed of two substantially plane portions joining each other at an angle by means of which the entire road surface at a crossing is protected from injury by vehicular traffic.

While I have shown and described a present preferred embodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that the same is not limited to the form shown but may be otherwise embodied within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a railroad crossing, track, a traflic roadway adjacent a rail thereof, a wear plate extending around the top edge of the roadway adjacent such rail, and means on the wear plate disposed at intervals longitudinally of the track and bearing against the web of the rail for spacing apart the plate and rail and providing a drainage space between the rail and plate throughout the major portion of the length of the plate.

2. In a railroad crossing, a rail, a traflic roadway adjacent thereto, and a wear plate for the roadway, the wear plate having spacing means thereon bearing at intervals against the web of the rail and providing a drainage space between the rail and plate throughout the major portion of the length of the plate.

3. In a railroad crossing, a rail, a trafiic roadway adjacent thereto, and wear means protecting the roadway and having spacers integral therewith and bearing against the web of the rail and providing a drainage space between the rail and wear means throughout the major portion of the lengtn of the wear means.

4. In a railroad crossing, a rail, a traffic roadway adjacent thereto, and wear means protecting the roadway and having a plu- 

